Short ball has been our best strategy against India: Glenn Maxwell

All-rounder Glenn Maxwell yesterday made it clear that the visitors will be targeting Indian batsmen with short-pitch deliveries when the two teams clash during the fourth one-day international at the JSCA International Stadium Complex here tomorrow.

Glenn Maxwell

“I think the short ball has probably been our best strategy so far. I don’t think we’re going to change our strategy too much. We thought we bowled pretty well (in the last match),” Maxwell told reporters.

“Unfortunately, Dhoni went off at the end and played brilliantly. I thought we bowled really well last game. It felt like we sorted out a few of their batsmen. Hopefully they’ve got a few worries in their camp. We’re feeling pretty good at the moment,” he said.

Mitchell Johnson’s short-pitched ball sent the hosts on the back foot in Mohali on Saturday. The pacer finished with figures of 4-46. Maxwell said the Aussies will put up a good show in Dhoni’s hometown in Rachi.

Shikhar Dhawan avoids a short ball during the Champions Trophy against Pakistan last June. Pic/Getty Images

Talking about their plans against the Indian captain, Maxwell said, “I think we had pretty good plans for him in the last game, though a couple of things didn’t quite go to plan. I think we dropped a catch, one ball that just cleared mid-off.

If we take those chances, I think we’re chasing 260-270 and we finish that game a lot earlier. I felt like our plans were very good. We shut him down early.

We made him face a lot of dot balls at the start of the innings. Hopefully we get a little bit more assistance with the ball here and put a lot of pressure on him.”